Army Breaks Silence on Elwelu’s plan of crushing Bobi & other MPs

Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu with Maj. Gen. Leopold Kyanda, the Chief of Staff of the Land Forces, during the
pipping ceremony for UPDF oficers in Luwero last week. Photo by Miriam Namutebi

The army has Come out to defend their own that the Commander of the Land Forces, Lt. Gen. Peter Elwelu, did not issue a warning to Members of Parliament, but only assured them of protection.

“The General was assuring Ugandans of protection, including
MPs, but did not warn them,” Lt Col Henry Obbo, the UPDF Land Forces
spokesperson, said in a statement sent to New Vision over the weekend.

“The writer twisted Elwelu’s prayer for peace in the world and Uganda, in particular, to allege that he (Elwelu) cited South Sudan as a chaotic country. He never said that and we respect the integrity of other nations,” Obbo added, responding to a story published on Friday

According to a recording Obbo sent to New Vision, Gen. Elwelu,
among other things, stated: “For the MPs, you can even go and fight in
Parliament. We will always come and help you so that you do not injure
yourselves.”

“We normally come to save you. We do not come to kill you
because it is bad to see you strangling each other. That is the freedom we
brought to this country,” Elwelu said.

He made the remarks on Thursday while presiding over a
decoration ceremony for 190 UPDF Land Forces officers in Bombo, Luwero
district. The ceremony followed the February promotion of over 2,000 UPDF
officers by President Yoweri Museveni, the Commander-in-Chief of the armed
forces.

In his speech, Elwelu also stated that there were some
people who were envious of Uganda’s progress.

“Let us work for the good of our country. Many people want to disorganize this country. Many envy us because the progress we have achieved,” he said.

“We have to prepare for them. Those who want to bring us
down, we just need to prepare for them and respond decisively,” Gen. Elwelu
added.

He said the peace Uganda has achieved was the result of many huge sacrifices. “These achievements, transformation, and freedom did not come from nothing. Many people lost their lives and time to make this country what it is today,” he said.

“We have over one million refugees in this country. They are
not here because they want to They are here because there is trouble where they
come from and they find Uganda a home. The best home you can ever have in this
region,” Elwelu said.

He also decried the rampant violence in the world, saying there is a need to pray hard and ask for God’s intervention.

“We need to pray for this country. You hear of chaos around
the world. We need to pray to the creator to ensure peace prevails in this
world,” Elwelu said.

Lukwago Joseph grew up in a newspaper family, and rumor has it that instead of playing the guitar in his infancy, his parents put a reporter’s notebook and a pen next to him shortly after he turned born eight years.
Before becoming editor of UGANDANZ, Lukwago was a parliament news editor for WBS TV. He joined UGANDANZ in July 2018, A few months after the company launched.
Lukwago also spent five years as a freelance reporter, where he covered reporting for the highest bidder, intelligence, foreign policy, and Ugandan police.
Lukwago graduated from Makerere University in 2008 with a B.A. in Journalism and worked on his college newspaper.